The Irish standard., 1887-07-23
FRAGMENTS OF HISTORY.
a Resume Of Irish Events Dur
ing the Reign of Queen
Victoria.
WHAT FENIANISM ACCOMPLISHED
How O'Connell Fought the English
Ministry and the Result Of
the Fight
dublin freeman, June 21.)
IRELAND In 1887.

dublin freeman, June 2l.)
IRELAND In 1887.
When the Queen assembled the throne
June 81, 1897, a great experiment was
being tried in Ireland. O'Connell had
in 1885 promised the government of
Lord Melbourne that he would give the
Union yet another trial, and suspend
the demand for Repeal until the Eng
lish Parliament had fair chance of
passing Irish measures. lie kept his
word, though as wear by year went by,
it became clearer and clearer that the
English Parliament could not legislate
benefcia|ly for the Irish people.
OConnell was consoled for the legis{a
tive djsappcintnents for which, per
haps, he was not altogether unpre-
pared, by the good government of Ire
land by Thomas Drummond. While
The English Parliament showed it's in
competency, the able Scotchman, VINO
was practically responsible for the ad-
minjstrslion of Ireland, won the hearts
of the people by his just rule. But
when Drummoud died in lS40, when
the government IT Lord Melbourne fell
III 1871, there was an end to the expert
ment Of trying To govern Ireland
through london 'arIiament, and the
flag OF | gislative independence WAS
once more uafur!ed. From 184l to our
own time ireland has had a checkered
but hopeful history, The National flag
has never beaen lowered, the fight has
never been given up. From 1871 to his
death O'Conne]l
FOUGHT THE ENGLISH MINISTER,
and the result Of the fight was to root
the idea OF legislative independence in
the Irish mind. 1t was {; great na~
tional .educatiosl--~the Repeal move
nent OF lS4l~l7. O'Conneil on the
platform, and Duffy, Davis and
Mitchell in the press, made the settle
ln*ut OF the Irish question on any other
basis, save The establishment Of an
Irish Parliament, an impossibility for
all time. That is to say, peace between
England and Ireland can only be Sc
cured on terms which shall be consist
ant with the self-respect Of both ma
lions. What would he the state OF t;le
Irjs'i question to-day but for the fam
inc no man can venture to tell. The
generation educated by O'Connell and
the Nation was swept away by that
horrible calamity, and swept away in a
great measure, owing to the incompo.
tence of the English Parliament to deal
with what was difficulty, but not an
Overwhelming emergency, The Irish
are asked to rejoice iit this Jubilee time!
Rejoice, indeed! Ihe
MEMORIES TILE JUBILEE RECALLS
are far TOO bitter for rejoicing. In the
forefront stands the famine with all it's
horrible recoliections of English blum
deriug, so graphically described by Mr..
Shaw Lefevre in hi- recent publication.
"Peel and O'Conuell" Then came the
terrible clearances and the disastrous
tide Of emigration which flowed from
this source. Are these things at which
TO rejoice: or shall We look Il little back
wards and ask if the memories Of
O'COnneli's base trial and infamous i'm.
prisonnent are calculated to excite
feelings Of jnblation? or is the insur-
rectioE Of 1SAs pleasant recollection?
Can we rejoice because Smith O'Brien
was sent to openal settlement-becau
England could find nothing better than
imprisonment or exile for MITCHELL
Meagher, Duffy, O'GoInan and all the
brilliant young Ireanders, whose up
rightness, pure patriotism and political
genius all unimpassionate thinkers, who
know anything Of their lives, ever &C.
knowledge? With the death of O'Con-
nell and the collapse of the Young Ire
land movementa period OF retrogression
set in. The heart Of tue country was
we'll nigh broken by a combination of
calamities. One Of the
MOST D1seRACEfUL CHAPTERS
in Anglo Irish history is the use which
the English Ministry made of the pros
trate condition i'll which ireland was
LETT after famine had decimated the
people, and death and failure had
destroyed the popular leaders. A wise,
just and humane government would
have applied itself willingly to remedy
the wrongs of the nation, to assuage the
misery Of the people, and to do the JUS
tice which the popular leaders had
sought. But the English Ministers did
nothing of the kind. Finding a pros
trate Ireland the English Parliament
resolved to let Irish affairs slide. While |
O'Connell was yet alive, while the
Repeal movement was at its height, the
Devon Commission had reported that